Menlough got out of jail!
By JIM CARNEY Carna-Cashel .1-9 Menlough .0-12 IT was like watching Mo Farah and Usain Bolt all over again. And as far as Menlough followers were concerned, Kevin Reilly's blistering run to grab an unlikely last-gasp draw was a gold medal winning performance at Pearse Stadium last Sunday. A gallant Cárna-An Chaiseal team could hardly believe it. They were by far the superior force from the end of the first quarter to the closing minutes of the contest and for most of the second half all that appeared to be in doubt was the margin of their victory. Even the most dedicated of Menlough men and women present believed it was a lost cause, for the simple reason that their team were not playing well enough to win. That in itself was a mystery, for they had started superbly and from an early lead of 0-4 to no score, and then 0-5 to 0-1, there seemed to be only one team in it. After that, there seemed to be only one team in it: Carna-Cashel. What happened to send Menlough into reverse gear was that they gave up working into point-scoring positions, left hand-passes short or too loose, lost the midfield battle and were hit by a couple of injuries, first to wing-forward Peter Kelly and then a hard knock which left towering midfield Robert Hughes on half-power for the rest of the game.[private] On the other side, while Carna-Cashel did not start defender Colm King, who had been injured, they sent him in after that early Menlough blitz and it was an inspired move. For the only goal of the game, which gave the Connemara standard-bearers a half-time lead of 1-3 to 0-5, Seán Ó CoirbÃÂn and Colm Mac an Ràgot the ball out of defence; it was taken through the field at speed and the three Casey brothers in attack were the last three men involved as Seán Ó Cathasaigh passed it to Micheál who sent Seosamh in for a brilliant goal. At that stage, the Menlough backs (missing the injured Shane Lawless) were under severe pressure but it wasn't their fault as the problems were out the field. In defence, Padraic Quirke at No. 2 was outstanding in the first quarter and Tomás Mannion handled a lot of ball in the half-back line. Two stars in defence year in, year out â€â€ David Reilly and Joey Glynn â€â€ weren't quite as dominant as usual, although trying hard, and indeed Rob Hughes wasn't quite his old flamboyant self either, before taking the knock that slowed him down for the second half. The best Carna-Cashel man on the day was powerfully built midfielder Seán Ó CillÃÂn, while the workrate and shrewd positional play of Niall Coyne and John Casey in attack also contributed hugely to their team's recovery from a slow start, as did Joe Casey's 1-3 (all from play). Goalkeeper Donal Dowd, who won a Hogan Cup medal with St Jarlath's, Tuam in 2002 is playing as well as ever. Carna-Cashel took control in the second quarter and kept it for twenty minutes of the second half. What happened then isn't easy to understand, for Menlough had two men sent off by referee Frank Kinneen, who had a very good match â€â€ first, Rob Hughes went on a second yellow card and, shortly before the end, Joe Glynn was dismissed on a straight red card for landing the kind of punch that made Katie Taylor famous. From there, with time running out, brave Menlough somehow found courage in adversity. They forced two frees and in Rob Hughes's absence Kevin Reilly took responsibility and kicked them over the crossbar at the city end. The three-point deficit was now one, which Kevin wiped out just in time with a brilliant run and punched point. On the kick-out, the final whistle was blown. Cárna-An Chaiseal: D. Ó Dúbhda; P. Seoige, S. Ó CoirbÃÂn, D. Ó Conaire; Séamus Ó Flatharta, Seán Ó CuirrÃÂn, Stiofán Ó CuirrÃÂn; S. Ó CillÃÂn, M. Mac Fhlannchadha (0-1); S. Seoige, captain (0-3, two frees), C. Ó Dubháin, N. Ó Cadhain (0-1); M. Ó Cathasaigh, Seán Ó Cathasaigh (0-1), Seosamh Ó Cathasaigh (1-3). Subs., C. Mac an Ri, for D. Ó Conaire; Seán Ó Flatharta, for C. Ó Dubháin. Menlough: J. O'Neill; P. Quirke, B. Laheen, C. Lucey; D. Reilly, T. Mannion, J. Glynn; R. Hughes, captain (0-3, all frees), M. Costello (0-1); P. Kelly (0-2), N. Carty (0-1), Derwin Costello (0-1); B. Costello (0-1), K. Reilly (0-3, two frees), H. Keeley. Subs., C. Jackson, for Kelly, inj., S. Lawless, for Lucey; C. O'Brien, for Keeley. Referee: Frank Kinneen. Herald Sport Man of the Match: Seán Ó CillÃÂn (Cárna-An Chaiseal). [/private]